Operation pros are not easy to find. They must possess strong technical skills with a host of communications and collaborations skills to boot. Here's what IT managers should look for when hiring (or grooming) operations professionals.

As U.S. state governments continue restricting employer efforts to study employees' and job seekers' personal social accounts, employers might need to review policies to ensure they are not counter to these new laws.

In-house, outsourcing, offshoring, onshoring; for some, doing the right thing is more important than the money involved. IT pro Benny Sisko believes that keeping work local is an important consideration when it comes to making this decision.

With the focus on bird flu in recent years, it's sort of unexpected to hear that the latest pandemic might, in fact, not come from flying descendents of dinosaurs but might be the result of a combination of human, bird and swine influenza viruses that have evolved inside pigs and into a new virus capable of human to human transmission. Regardless of the viruses origins, now is the time for organizations to review pandemic plans to make sure that information is current and actionable. It might even be time to take minor steps in preparation for a more serious outbreak. Scott Lowe provides a brief overview of his staff's plans.

Like it or not, spam is a way of life. While the battle between spammers and inbox users continues to rage, organizations generally do their best to try to stop the onslaught. In general, only a fraction of spam gets through filters, but can those spam filter failures create legal liability for an organization?

Discussions in the TechRepublic forums often reveal strained relationships between IT staff and their managers and CIOs. Benny Sisko provides six tips for both sides of the divide to help keep relationships cordial, professional, and productive.

Job changes are traumatic and sometimes difficult to absorb. However, they can be just what the doctor ordered to bring some joy back to life. Scott Lowe discusses the five signs that you might need to consider a fresh start.

Buzzwords can get old and jumping on the bandwagon can quickly become nothing more than riding on other's coattails. Overuse of a term or idea can muddy the waters around what that term or idea is really supposed to denote. When it comes to "green", Scott Lowe takes a cynical look at green efforts, which are often about a different kind of green - money - even as said efforts are purported to be about saving the world.

Understanding the business is a challenge for a lot of CIOs? Are we up for it? Am I up for it? Sprawling infrastructure is partially to blame as IT works to reign it all in and focus on "information" as opposed to "technology".

Not that long ago, all you needed was a high school diploma and some brains to land a good job with good pay. Slowly, the educational bar was raised, with the Associates/Bachelors degree becoming the ticket. Today, the Bachelors degree is a bare minimum at best when it comes to IT leadership positions and the Masters degree is the new soup of the day. Scott Lowe provides his thoughts on this topic and his plans for his own development.

George Sifri looks at success factors involved with the risk management program implemented at his company. He discusses the lessons learned and offers advice on hurdles to expect on the road to risk management.

Everyone wants to tell IT pros that they need to develop people skills, but no one really tells what those skills are. Here are the most important skills an IT leader should have and how to develop them.

Windows 7 is better all around, but the little things that have gone into improving the user experience have a big impact. Scott Lowe talks about why some of these features will accelerate Windows 7 deployment at Westminster.